A driver's strike is now in progress. As a matter of fact strikes in Chicago are not unusual; they occur more often here than in any other city in the United States. It is a well known fact, that workers do not benefit much by striking. During the strikes they suffer great hardships, while fighting for their meager existence, and often they lose the battle against capitalists. If sometimes they do succeed in getting their salary raised at least five cents per hour; they have to pay twice as much for the necessities of life. These are the results of the strike; in other words, they won but lost in another sense of the word. One might say, in fact, that they gained nothing.

The capitalists exploit these poor workers and make them slaves of present day society. The poor worker is powerless, everybody is against him- government, 2police, capitalists and industrialists. There is no justice for a poor working man, who makes his living honestly and pays his taxes to the government as a good citizen. If a worker uses diplomatic means to get his salary raised he gets nothing, and if he goes on strike to get his salary raised, he gets a club over his head from brass button cops. And that is justice!

The best thing for a working man is to take life as it comes. Suffer hardships, poverty, keep silent and love God. That is what capitalists want every working man to do. But if a poor worker tries to improve his living conditions, he will meet strong opposition and he will be disliked by the capitalists. If attempts are made to throw off the capitalistic yoke under which they are bound, hand and foot,police clubs are put into action, soldiers' bullets fly, and workers are thre into jails as if they were criminals and murderers. It is most disgusting to see the workers treated so cruely by the capitalists. Animals are treated better the human beings.

I wonder if the poor workers, who are being looked upon as insignificant beings by the city government, remember that these very same city officials were 3candidates in the last election for offices in the city government.

Maybe workers who are mistreated now by the city government voted democratic for Mayor Dunne in the last election. What good did he do for the workers who put him in the office?

Now, he is sending a police force against the very people who put him in the Mayor's office. This is the Chicago Mayor's gratitude to the workers who elected him. This is how he repays them.

If all workers had voted the socialist ticket during the last election, we probably would not have any strikes today; or if we had, at least the government would not serve the capitalists blindly, it would uphold justice.

It is to be regretted that unity does not exist among our workers today. They cannot accomplish anything worth while for the future if they do not unite and again vote the socialist ticket, at the next election.

The workers realized their mistake after it was too late.

When they have a chance to accomplish something they seem to sell their votes for a glass of beer to dishonest politicians,and capitalists who are their greatest enemy and who want to keep them in ignorance and in slavery. These dishonest politicians are not interested in the welfare of the workers who helped to elect them, and put them on the city payroll, with big salaries. They are well contented, why should they worry about the workingman's welfare.

During the period they are in office, they become rich and prosperous while the condition of the poor workers become worse and worse. The labor situation in Chicago as it is today, is deplorable. Nobody seems to be interested enough to take the initiative in combatting these evils in our great city of Chicago. I wonder if workers are able to understand the unjust state of affairs under which they live. Will they understand later what to do, and how to eradicate the social evils which exist? Will they cease selling their votes to their exploiters for a glass of beer? Will they vote the socialist ticket for the man who is interested in the welfare of the workers, The future will tell whether labor has awakened to the fact that it is being exploited by unscrupulous politicians 5and capitalists. It would seem that the workers are not working for their own benefit, but for those who exploit them. The workers are too gullible because they are ignorant. Ignorance is due to a lack of proper education. Ignorant people can be exploited much easier than those who have an education and a proper training. It is obvious that workers will never have any understanding of the situation, if they remain uneducated.

An education is the key to heaven not only after death, but also while on this earth. If we wish to find happiness here, both men and women alike, must strive for education, for after all every one of us should be interested in attaining a greater happiness.

It is obvious that under present conditions, the poor workers do not have enough available time for and education, They have to work very long hours in shops. Hence our social system will not allow them to improve themselves and raise their standard of living. They are made slaves of industry and politicians. They have very few 6chances of obtaining any schooling themselves and almost equally meager are the possibilities that the children may ever attain a higher education than the parents have. Only a rich man's son can afford to go to college under present conditions, no poor man's son. A poor man can hardly support his own family with his earnings, so it becomes next to impossible for his children to go to college. So, what chance has a laborer to educate his children under our present social organization. His chances for sending his children to college are very poor indeed."

The government should help workers and their children as much as possible. The government should build colleges and universities and make them accessible to workingmen's children, who can not afford to go to private colleges.